Federal Department of the Environment,Transport, Energy and Communications DETEC

Federal Office for the Environment FOEN

Micropollutants: the Swiss strategy

Adriano Joss (Eawag), Michael Schärer (FOEN), Christian Abegglen (VSA)

Water Division

Overview

Do micropollutants represent a problem?

Options for removing micropollutants

Costs and energy

Swiss legislation

Current focus and outlook

Slide 2

Background:

Conclusion from preceeding projects1. Project „Fishnet“: Declining fish yields in Switzerland2. National research program 50 „endocrine disruptors“

• Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are main (point) sources for pollution for several surface waters

• Micropollutants: insufficient dilution of treated wastewater• Installation of additional treatment steps needs to be

evaluated

Project „Strategy Micropoll“ of the FOEN (2006 – 2011)

• Focus on micropollutants originating from wastewater• Overview on micropollutants in Swiss surface waters• Proposition of a method to evaluate water quality• Evaluation of measures (additional treatment steps)

Slide 3

4

>1 ng EE2/L: lack of male fish and fertility loss (fathead minnow)

0

20

40

80

100

Control Solvent(control)

0.32 0.96

60

EE2 [ng/L]

Egg

ferti

lity

(hat

chin

g) [

%]

(Joanne Parrott, NWRI, Burlington, CDN)

**

Contraceptiv EE2: environmental concentrations(1 ng/L) reduce egg fertility

5

E = Ephemoptera

T = Trichoptera

P = Plecoptera

Principal component analysis- Effluent content in surface water- Concentration of 11 micropollutants

(fragrances, flame retardants, …)

Div

ersi

ty o

f spe

cies

as Σ(

EPT

taxa

)S

umof

EP

T sp

ecie

s

Species diversityreduced by WWTP discharges

Stalter et al., 2013

6

Project EcoImpact: methods to quantify impactof micropollutants in surface waters

F. Burdon, M. Reyes, C. Stamm

Downstream sampling

Upstreamsampling

Selected sites:• No WWTP upstream• Low dilution: >20% wastewater downstream

River ecology upstream vs. downstream WWTP inlet:• SPEAR: downstream community less sensitive to chemical• Saprobic index: correlation with agricultural land use (nitrate)• Invertebrates: no clear correlation

7

SPEAR = SPEcies At RiskMethod to quantify sensitive species in a community

F. Burdon, M. Reyes, C. Stamm

Dilution in receiving water

Cha

nge

in S

PE

AR

-inde

x

Project EcoImpact: methods to quantify impactof micropollutants in surface waters

Micropollutants: a regional problem in Switzerland

Slide 8

…where population density is high

Due to increased wastewater load in (surface) waters

Population density

Slide 9

Overview

Do micropollutants represent a problem?

Options for removing micropollutants

Costs and energy

Swiss legislation

Current focus and outlook

Slide 10

Ozonation

To biology

Ozone generatorOffgas treatment

ReactorSandfilter

Oxygen tank Evaporator

2nd clarifier

12

Activ. sludge(2 floors)

Ozone reactor

O2 tank,evaporator

In since beginning of 2014

Powdered activated carbon treatment

Contactor Sedimentation PolishingPAC TSS = 1–10 g/l TSS = 5–30 mg/l

TSS < 5 mg/l

PACContactor Separation

TSS < 5 mg/lTSS = 1–10 g/l

PACContactor

TSS = 15–50 mg/lSand filter

TSS < 5 mg/l

PAC

Biologic treatment

Polishing

TSS < 5 mg/l

2nd clarifier TSS = 5–30 mg/lTSS = 2 - 10 g/l

from 2nd clarifier

from 2nd clarifier

from 2nd clarifier

Raw wastewater

WWTP Bachwis, Herisau

• Influent: municipal + textile industry• Industrial compounds with low reactivity towards ozone

• PAC unit with settler prior to sand filter• Set into operation: May 2015

PAC treatment

Evaluation of technical measures on existing WWTPs: PAC and Ozonation

0 20 40 60 80 100

Iopromid

Atrazin

Mecoprop

Atenolol

Benzotriazol

Bezafibrat

Methylbenzotriazol

Metoprolol

Sulfamethoxazol

Clarithromycin

Carbamazepin

Sulfapyridin

Trimethoprim

Diclofenac

Elimination (%)

1157791 ± 24617 ± 47396 ± 63

Ozonkonentraton in g Ozon/kg DOCOzone concentration

in gO3/kgDOC

Elimination [%]

Over 80 % elimination of broad range in average Measures for broad range of organic trace

compounds Some compounds eliminated below detection limit

Reduction of ecotoxic effects Strongly reduced estrogenic activity Better development of fish embryo Up to 26 bioassays in large scale experiments

Economically feasible and reasonable in specific cases

Manageable for WWTP-personnel

Slide 15

Source control and other technologiesSource control measures have highest priority:- Registration and regulation of products- Green chemistry- Behavior of consumers – information of public- Use and disposal of substances

But:- “Long-term options”- Thousands of substances can hardly be regulated- Replacement of some problematic substances is

very difficult (e.g. pharmaceuticals) or impossible (natural estrogens).

Other technologies are/have been looked at:- GAC, BAC, biological degradation, ferrate, …

Slide 16

Overview

Do micropollutants represent a problem?

Options for removing micropollutants

Costs and energy

Swiss legislation

Current focus and outlook

Slide 17

Energy consumption and costsElectricity

Per WWTP 10 – 30 % increase National increase: 0.1 % of national electricity consumption

<0.1 % of nationale consumption on primary energy

Costs

Per WWTP 5 – 35 % increase National increase: 12 % of annual costs of wastewater treatment

6 % of annual costs of wastewater disposal

Report available on www.bafu.admin.ch/micropoll

Slide 18

Energy consumption

Today Ozone (5 mg/L) PAC (12 mg/L)WWTP

Flow kWh/m3 0.36 0.06 0.02PE kWh/PE/y 38 8 2

Primary energyFlow kWh/m3 1 0.27 0.37PE kWh/PE/y 105 33 50

Total energy consumption in Switzerland: Wastewater treatment 480 GWh/a 0.8%Total electric power 57’670 GWh/a 100%

Slide 19

Costs (local, full charge)

Untersee Furt Au Zürich

Size PE 6100 37700 66000 600000

Average CHFlow Fr./m3 1.05 0.80 0.55 0.55

PE Fr./PE/y 118 87 61 61

Ozone (5 mg/L)Flow Fr./m3 0.18 0.09 0.08 0.04

PE Fr./PE/y 34 12 11 5

PAC(10 mg/L)Flow Fr./m3 0.30 0.18 0.15 0.09

PE Fr./PE/y 58 23 19 12

SandfilterFlow Fr./m3 0.16 0.13 0.07 0.05

PE Fr./PE/y 30 16 10 6

Slide 20

Overview

Do micropollutants represent a problem?

Options for removing micropollutants

Costs and energy

Swiss legislation

Current focus and outlook

Slide 21

Legislation: scope

» Load reduction for downstream water use (e.g. Rhein)

» Protect sensitive waters (ecotoxicology)

» Protect drinking water resources (precaution)

» Source control: Regulation of specific compounds (e.g. pesticides)

» WWTPs: upgrading at specific sites WWTPs > 80’000 persons (load reduction) WWTPs > 24’000 persons discharging into lakes (drinking water protection) WWTPs > 8’000 persons with >10% dilution in receiving water (protection of

the environment) exceptions

Legislation: scope

» Load reduction for downstream water use (e.g. Rhein)

» Protect sensitive waters (ecotoxicology)

» Protect drinking water resources (precaution)

» Source control: Regulation of specific compounds (e.g. pesticides)

» WWTPs: upgrading at specific sites WWTPs > 80’000 persons (load reduction) WWTPs > 24’000 persons discharging into lakes (drinking water protection) WWTPs > 8’000 persons with >10% dilution in receiving water (protection of

the environment) exceptions

Ca. 100 WWTPs (out of 650)

Total investment: ca. 1.2 billion CHF

Yearly costs: ca. 130 million CHF

Implementation 2016 til 2040

Legislation timeline:Waters protection act and ordinance

2010 2011 2012 2013

DraftOrdinance

Hearing in parliament

Parliament: financingaccording to polluter-pays

Motionaccepted

Draft Act

Act consultation

Act consultation in

parliament

80% acceptance oftargeted upgrading ofWWTPs

Act accepted

2009 2014

Fed. Assembly: Act

Act andordinance into

force

2015Ab 2006

Financing solutionaccepted

ImplementationConcept by FOEN

Strategy Micropoll:Situation analysis,

pilot testing

Scope of the treatment» Treated wastewater contains ≤20% of the micropollutants of the

influent wastewater (final effluent vs. primary clarifiedwastewater)

» Removal monitored with 6 out of 12 indicator compounds

» Provisionally: Amisulprid, Carbamazepin, Citalopram, Clarithromycin, Diclofenac, Hydrochlorothiazid, Metoprolol, Venlafaxin, Benzotriazol, Candesartan, Irbesartan, Mecoprop

» 24h or 48h composite samples

» Frequency of sampling: 8 to 24 per year (depends on WWTP size)

Financing» 75% of the investment payed by national budget

» Municipalities pay 9 CHF/person/year into a fonds

» Municipalities with upgraded WWTPs are exempted

» Only direct costs for upgrading for micropollutant removal covered(nutrient removal not covered)

» Financing starts in 2016 and ends in 2040

» 25% of the investment + operation costs covered by themunicipalities

Grafik: http://www.naturzentren.ch/

WWTP Herisau34’000 PEPAC treatment (+Sed. +SF)In constructionIn operation May 2015

ARA Wetzikon37’000 PEPAC dosing into ativ.sludge (full scale trial)finished

WWTP BioggioPAC with flotationand cloth filtrationPilotongoing

WWTP Aviron, Vevey55’000 PEFerrat experimentPilot scalefinished

WWTP Vidy Lausanne220’000 PEPilot experimentsO3 + SF (100 l/s)PAC + UF (10-15 l/s)finished

VispPAC with flotationPilotongoing

WWTP Schönau-ChamPAC dosing into activ. SludPilotOngoing

WWTP ProRhenoPiloting O3 and PACongoing

WWTP Ergolz40’000 PEAktifiltPAC dosing on filter; GAC filtrationongoing

WWTP Bülach-Furt44’500 PEGAC testing(2 of 6 sandfilter)ongoing

WWTP Kloten/OpfikonPAC dosing on filterfinished

ARA Regensdorf25’000 PEO3 full scale testingfinished

WWTP Neugut105’000 PEOzonation, in operationsince beginning of 2014Piloting post-treatment

WWTP ThunerseePAC treatment (+Sed. +SF)In planning

WWTP Werdhölzli600’000 PEOzonation in planning

WWTP FrenkePAC + Sed. + SFIn planning

WWTP Birs150’000 PEAquapurePAC dosing andseparation withUF (pilot)finished

WWTP Schönau-ChamActiflo Carb (Microsand)Compact PAC unitfinished

EawagPAC pilotGAC pilotfinishedBiological removalongoing

WWTP Altenrhein90’000 PEOzonation in planningGAC tests planned

LeLocle / Les BrenetsPAC dosing in membranebioreactorFull scale trialsongoing

Overview

Do micropollutants represent a problem?Regionally: yesProblem strongly correlate to wastewater dilution

Options for removing micropollutantsOzonationPowdered activated carbon

Costs and energyTotal costs: <20€/person/year< WW treatment cost increase

Swiss legislation2016: new Waters Protection OrdinanceUntil 2040: 120 to 130 WWTPs (of 650; 50% of wastewater)

equipped for removal of micropollutants Current focus and outlook

Multiple ongoing projects

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Thank you